Kids getting ripped off at Uni
Discussion
Lotobear said:
Update on my original post, concerning my own son specifically.
He's packing it all in - he's had enough. I tried to persuade him out of it and get him to finish the year but he does tend to know his own mind and wants to get a job instead (which of course may be difficult, though he has his Btec)
I hated university and often wanted to quit. I only did it because everyone else at school was going to university and there was this mindset that if you didn't go to uni you were somehow a failure. Although I did end up getting my degree I still wish I had packed it in and become a joiner.He's packing it all in - he's had enough. I tried to persuade him out of it and get him to finish the year but he does tend to know his own mind and wants to get a job instead (which of course may be difficult, though he has his Btec)
If your son doesn't want to do it strongly enough to quit (which I think takes courage to do) then I think he has the strength of character that means he is likely to succeed in whatever he ultimately decides to do.
biggbn said:
From a school perspective, online learning and missing out on the social aspect of school is having a much bigger impact on pupils' and teachers' mental health than anyone thought I would say.
As an old fart, I find I do have to think back quite hard to remember how mentally stressful it is.For the younger generation starting out, your mind is a sponge desperate to gain more experience, be it social or learning.
The social aspect of that can draw some very lonely empty thoughts. Harder still nowadays with the internet and social media.
This can cause a lot of mental stress and emptiness. This is a big hidden cost of these extended lockdowns. All us old farts can do is be as supportive as possible.
It's a grim situation at the moment.
A lot of decisions on accommodation costs depend if the Uni owns the accommodation or if they are private.
Vikingette1 is going back to Uni on 13th Feb. Her Uni have been good. They made January the video learning month and want them back in Feb for lab work. As the Uni owns their accommodation, they waived rent until she returns - that's a good £1,000 saved by TheBankOfViking.
The irony is that the students that in an identically built block next to hers have to pay whether they are there or not as it is a private company.
A lot of decisions on accommodation costs depend if the Uni owns the accommodation or if they are private.
Vikingette1 is going back to Uni on 13th Feb. Her Uni have been good. They made January the video learning month and want them back in Feb for lab work. As the Uni owns their accommodation, they waived rent until she returns - that's a good £1,000 saved by TheBankOfViking.
The irony is that the students that in an identically built block next to hers have to pay whether they are there or not as it is a private company.
vikingaero said:
It's a grim situation at the moment.
A lot of decisions on accommodation costs depend if the Uni owns the accommodation or if they are private.
Vikingette1 is going back to Uni on 13th Feb. Her Uni have been good. They made January the video learning month and want them back in Feb for lab work. As the Uni owns their accommodation, they waived rent until she returns - that's a good £1,000 saved by TheBankOfViking.
The irony is that the students that in an identically built block next to hers have to pay whether they are there or not as it is a private company.
Yep. My daughter is paying for a flat that she hasn't seen since November.A lot of decisions on accommodation costs depend if the Uni owns the accommodation or if they are private.
Vikingette1 is going back to Uni on 13th Feb. Her Uni have been good. They made January the video learning month and want them back in Feb for lab work. As the Uni owns their accommodation, they waived rent until she returns - that's a good £1,000 saved by TheBankOfViking.
The irony is that the students that in an identically built block next to hers have to pay whether they are there or not as it is a private company.
WinstonR said:
Lotobear said:
Update on my original post, concerning my own son specifically.
He's packing it all in - he's had enough. I tried to persuade him out of it and get him to finish the year but he does tend to know his own mind and wants to get a job instead (which of course may be difficult, though he has his Btec)
I hated university and often wanted to quit. I only did it because everyone else at school was going to university and there was this mindset that if you didn't go to uni you were somehow a failure. Although I did end up getting my degree I still wish I had packed it in and become a joiner.He's packing it all in - he's had enough. I tried to persuade him out of it and get him to finish the year but he does tend to know his own mind and wants to get a job instead (which of course may be difficult, though he has his Btec)
If your son doesn't want to do it strongly enough to quit (which I think takes courage to do) then I think he has the strength of character that means he is likely to succeed in whatever he ultimately decides to do.
I really enjoyed my time at uni. I did a course I was really interested in but if I wasn't able to go find the lecturers to ask questions and discuss with them or come in to do the lab work, tutorials and things, I think it would suck quite hard. But the real reason it was so enjoyable, and I say this as someone who generally likes to keep to himself as an introvert, was meeting other people and being left to your own devices to figure life out. Meeting other like minded people, interested in the same things you are, going out, doing stupid stuff, dossing in a flea pit of a student rental, staying up late, meeting girls, doing what you wanted! (within reason). It was a properly liberating experience that really let me figure out who I was and what I wanted.
My parents were worried massively about me going and living away. They thought I'd be too shy. They still can't believe the difference it made.
Of course its a bit 20:20 that because I couldn't have known it would be that transformative, but if I knew I was missing out on that, yeah I'd be thinking about saving my money as well. It sounds like some are not even getting a 1/10th of the experience.
Have to say, if I was looking at Uni now I would be putting it off for a year or two.
When I went in 1992, the fees were paid and I even got a grant. I didn't really have any overwhelming desire to go, but my parents essentially said "You either go to Uni or you get a job" so it was a no brainer.
No way would I be paying £9500 a year in fees plus paying rent to sit in my hall dorm all day.
When I went in 1992, the fees were paid and I even got a grant. I didn't really have any overwhelming desire to go, but my parents essentially said "You either go to Uni or you get a job" so it was a no brainer.
No way would I be paying £9500 a year in fees plus paying rent to sit in my hall dorm all day.
I too have had to convince my daughter to stay. It's her first year and she wasn't expecting to be cooped up in a small room (expensive) all day and night, doing her lessons on-line.
She has been getting very down but home life with my ex wife and wayward teen boys is very toxic and I want her to be independent.
Thankfully I have just managed, after 4 months of form filling and tons of phone calls, to get an extra maintenance loan for her so now her rent is covered for this year.
She, along with many others, was hoping to get a job in a shop or a bar to help with money and social life but obviously this is now nigh on impossible.
She had a job in a deli in London and gave that up when she left last September. They advertised and had over 300 applicants, a lot of desperate people already suffering from the reaction to this virus having had their livelihoods taken away.
I would imagine if a vacancy comes up in a University town that students will be at the back of the queue.
She has been getting very down but home life with my ex wife and wayward teen boys is very toxic and I want her to be independent.
Thankfully I have just managed, after 4 months of form filling and tons of phone calls, to get an extra maintenance loan for her so now her rent is covered for this year.
She, along with many others, was hoping to get a job in a shop or a bar to help with money and social life but obviously this is now nigh on impossible.
She had a job in a deli in London and gave that up when she left last September. They advertised and had over 300 applicants, a lot of desperate people already suffering from the reaction to this virus having had their livelihoods taken away.
I would imagine if a vacancy comes up in a University town that students will be at the back of the queue.
My daughter went back to Uni after Christmas,my wife wanted her to stay at home but with a son with clinical depression it isn’t a good learning environment.
She is the only one in her flat and her boyfriend is the only one in his flat.Her main difficulty is staying motivated and not climbing the walls.All lectures are online and she says there is a low attendance rate in all lectures.
She is the only one in her flat and her boyfriend is the only one in his flat.Her main difficulty is staying motivated and not climbing the walls.All lectures are online and she says there is a low attendance rate in all lectures.
My youngest is just coming up to finishing her 3 year vet nurse degree.
She started in 2018, the first term was in halls and theory based, the remainder of the 1st academic year was on placement, which took her to 2019, back in uni for the first term of 2019, as the University was reasonably local (Middlesex and we are Guildford), she decided to commute (drive to Morden and get the Tube) as was only in 3 days a week, then the pandemic hit so pretty much the 2nd year of placement was written off but fortunately her University over do the hours required so it was possible to make up placement hours in her final (this) year.
Practical exams she has managed to do most, ones she has missed will be based on mocks which she smashed, written exams were done remotely, as was classroom based learning.
She is due to finish her final placement at Easter and final exams should follow, it looks like she already has a job waiting for her with her current placement as a Student Vet Nurse and as soon as she gets her degree she will become a "proper" Vet Nurse.
Ironically the student vet nurse at her current placement (who my daughter is very good friends with) decided to train on the job (my daughter wanted a degree as it gives greater options to progress and go into different fields), she started a year before my daughter started uni but my daughter will qualify way ahead of her.
She started in 2018, the first term was in halls and theory based, the remainder of the 1st academic year was on placement, which took her to 2019, back in uni for the first term of 2019, as the University was reasonably local (Middlesex and we are Guildford), she decided to commute (drive to Morden and get the Tube) as was only in 3 days a week, then the pandemic hit so pretty much the 2nd year of placement was written off but fortunately her University over do the hours required so it was possible to make up placement hours in her final (this) year.
Practical exams she has managed to do most, ones she has missed will be based on mocks which she smashed, written exams were done remotely, as was classroom based learning.
She is due to finish her final placement at Easter and final exams should follow, it looks like she already has a job waiting for her with her current placement as a Student Vet Nurse and as soon as she gets her degree she will become a "proper" Vet Nurse.
Ironically the student vet nurse at her current placement (who my daughter is very good friends with) decided to train on the job (my daughter wanted a degree as it gives greater options to progress and go into different fields), she started a year before my daughter started uni but my daughter will qualify way ahead of her.
WinstonR said:
I hated university and often wanted to quit. I only did it because everyone else at school was going to university and there was this mindset that if you didn't go to uni you were somehow a failure. Although I did end up getting my degree I still wish I had packed it in and become a joiner.
If your son doesn't want to do it strongly enough to quit (which I think takes courage to do) then I think he has the strength of character that means he is likely to succeed in whatever he ultimately decides to do.
Thanks for those wise and reassuring words and for what it's worth I think you may be right. He's a quiet lad at face value but quite a deep thinker and he will have thought this through at some length and decided it's not for him and no amount of parental cajoling is going to change that (so I've told the wife to lay off!). I'm sure he would have enjoyed it were it not for being in imposed islolation and getting 2-3 hours remote contact time per week but as he says 'it's not what was sold to me'.If your son doesn't want to do it strongly enough to quit (which I think takes courage to do) then I think he has the strength of character that means he is likely to succeed in whatever he ultimately decides to do.
Given he's highly conscientious I have a good feeling that he will make his way in life regardless and I'll do all I can to support him. I've suggested an electrical engineering apprenticeship and he seems quite interested. - he is keen to work and learn 'on the job'
OpulentBob said:
Because everyone MUST have a university degree.
I wonder how much the kids really do want it, and how much is "you must have a degree" stamped in to them by their parents.
In my son's case he was doing a worthwhile science degree which would have guaranteed him professional chartered status and a well paid job for the rest of his life but I agree, if it's media studies, equestrian studies, events management, drama, sports studies or golf course design I don't have a lot of sympathy.I wonder how much the kids really do want it, and how much is "you must have a degree" stamped in to them by their parents.
OpulentBob said:
Because everyone MUST have a university degree.
I wonder how much the kids really do want it, and how much is "you must have a degree" stamped in to them by their parents.
I started university back in 2002, and it had been hamnmered into us all through school by tecahers that we needed to get a degree.I wonder how much the kids really do want it, and how much is "you must have a degree" stamped in to them by their parents.
I studied something that I'm interested in, and have managed to do fairly well out of it, I have a career I enjoy, it pays alright.
But, some of the people that I went to school with that weren't deemed smart enough to get that extra help and push to get the qualifications they needed to go to Uni, are some of the more financially successful, having learned a trade and been financially literate enough to turn it into a business.
The particular line of work that I'm in, it's very difficult to start up on your own. It's quite a specific field, so i do alright, but i often wonder how I'd be doing if I'd become a spark or something similar.
Lotobear said:
In my son's case he was doing a worthwhile science degree which would have guaranteed him professional chartered status and a well paid job for the rest of his life but I agree, if it's media studies, equestrian studies, events management, drama, sports studies or golf course design I don't have a lot of sympathy.
Bit of a weird list. I know people that work in just about all of those fields and do well for themselves.thewarlock said:
Lotobear said:
In my son's case he was doing a worthwhile science degree which would have guaranteed him professional chartered status and a well paid job for the rest of his life but I agree, if it's media studies, equestrian studies, events management, drama, sports studies or golf course design I don't have a lot of sympathy.
Bit of a weird list. I know people that work in just about all of those fields and do well for themselves.We became all about "degrees" 20yrs ago and the vocational side of life was lost. It was a big mistake IMO - there has never been nor ever will be a single "best path" for anything in life, and to attempt to force/funnel people down one is not a good idea. We have badly lost our way on education and our slide down international tables would seem to underscore that.
thewarlock said:
Bit of a weird list. I know people that work in just about all of those fields and do well for themselves.
I've no doubt some folk, a small number, do very well in those areas of work but I'd wager there are hundreds and possibly thousands of disappointed kids sitting in call centres with one of those type of degrees who came out bright eyed and bushy tailed only to find there were no jobs for them.OpulentBob said:
Because everyone MUST have a university degree.
I wonder how much the kids really do want it, and how much is "you must have a degree" stamped in to them by their parents.
I left school in 1985. Anyone at my school who didn't go on to University was looked at very strangely by the rest of us and, I presume, by their parents.I wonder how much the kids really do want it, and how much is "you must have a degree" stamped in to them by their parents.
Lotobear said:
In my son's case he was doing a worthwhile science degree which would have guaranteed him professional chartered status and a well paid job for the rest of his life but I agree, if it's media studies, equestrian studies, events management, drama, sports studies or golf course design I don't have a lot of sympathy.
It's not a door closed. Some would consider that these next two years is not the best time to be going to uni due to all the lockdowns and less effective learning.He may reconsider after a year or two. If he goes out now and gets a different type of experience then it could be what's best for him right now. With that experience behind him, he may look at his options again and decide the time is now right for him to go to uni - science degrees are worthwhile.
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